Utagawa Kunimaru (歌川国丸) (artist 1794 – 1829)
Maeda (original family name) 前田Bunji (nickname) 文治
Iseya Ihachi (nickname) 伊勢屋伊八
Gosairō (gō) 五彩楼
Honchōan (gō) 翻蝶庵
Ichiensai (gō) 一円斎
Keiuntei (gō) 軽雲亭
Saikarō (gō) 彩霞楼
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Biography:
"Edo painter and printmaker who studied under Toyokuni I. Son of a pawnbroker. Studied haiku with Ōryūan and wrote under the name Ryūbi. Specialized in prints of bijin and actor prints. After 1808, illustrated many books."
Quoted from: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists... by Laurance P. Roberts, p. 95.
He also produced a number of shini-e, which although unsigned are attributed to him.
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His works are relatively rare, but he is still included in quite a few university and museum collections. Among these are the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (unillustrated), the Chazen Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago (a surimono from 1829), the Cincinnati Museum of Art, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Fitzwilliam, the Harvard Museums (3 surimono), the Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, the Mead Museum of Art at Amherst College, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Tokyo Metropolitan Library, the Ritsumeikan University collection, the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, Harvard, Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Achenbach Foundation, the British Museum, Waseda University, the National Diet Library, the Hankyu Culture Foundation and the Library of Congress.
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It is interesting to note that a number of prints by Kunimaru have no publisher's seal on them. Sometime there is no censor's seal either. However, he does on occasion use the red toshidama seal of the Utagawa school as early as 1812.
Among the publishers whose seal do appear on Kunimaru's prints are those of Sōshūya Yohei in 1811, Harimaya Shinshichi in 1811, Sumimaruya Jinsuke in 1812, Yamashiroya Tōemon in 1814, Uemura Yohei in 1815, Ezakiya Kichibei in 1817, Moriya Jihei in 1818, Hiranoya Chōemon, Ibaya Senzaburō (on a fan print), Kanekoya Jinbei, Yamadaya Shōjirō in the late 1820s, Yamaguchiya Tōbei in ca. 1820 and Wataya Kihei, Tsumuraya Saburobei and Nishimuraya Yohachi at undetermined dates. And there are some publisher's seals that are yet to be identified. Two publishers Andreas Marks lists as 'Ue' (#U356) and Hagiwara (#U059) also published his work in the 1810s.
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Among the ehon he helped illustrate was a publication from 1823 by Kinkōdō in which he worked along side Kunisada; and again with Kunisada for Shunshōken in 1829 and earlier by himself for this house in 1812; with Eisen, Shunshō, Shunsui and Kuninaga for Bunkeidō; for Moriya Jihei along with Kuninobu, Kuniyasu, Shigemasa and Tsukimaro; for Kinshindō with Shuntei and other separate publications in 1815; for Ezakiya Kichibei; for Nishimuraya Yohachi in 1828; for Sūzandō in Osaka along with Tsukimaro, Shigemasa, Kuniyasu, Kuninobu, Kuninao and Kunikane; for Maruya Jinpachi in 1820; for Eijudo with Kunisada in 1830-31, appearing after Kunimaru's death; for Eikyūdō in 1825 along with Kunisada; for Bun'eidō in 1812; for Fujiya Tōsuke; and for Senkakudō in 1824.
Andreas Marks noted that "... in the first half of the 1810s Kunisada himself could not maintain his position as leading book illustrator. Other students of Toyokuni, such as Utagawa Kunimaru 歌川国丸 (1794–1829) and especially Utagawa Kuninao I 歌川国直 (1793–1854) clearly dominated this field. From 1819 on, when Kunisada again became the most often employed illustrator of books, he would maintain his leading position in this field for many years to come."
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Among the very first Japanese prints to enter the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art were 19 examples by Eizan. These were in an album of 24 prints which include 2 by Kunisada and 3 by Kunimaru. They were a gift of Mary L. Cassilly in 1894.
A second album of 88 prints was also donated at the time. It was prints from 'The Hundred Poets Compared' series including works by Hiroshige, Kunisada and Kuniyoshi.
Source: 'Early Collectors of Japanese Prints and the Metropolitan Museum of Art' by Julia Meech-Pekarik, Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 17, 1982, pp. 93-118.
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As an illustrator for book publishers
Kunimaru drew illustrations for Nishinomiya Shinroku in 1813-16, 1821, 1827 and 1829; Tsuruya Kinsuke in 1811-12 and 1814-15; Tsutaya Jūzaburō in 1811 and 1813; Ōsakaya Hidehachi (?) in 1811; Nishimuraya Yohachi in 1811-13, 1828 and 1831; Tsuruya Kiemon in 1812-13, 1815-18, 1822 and 1824; Maruya Bun'emon in 1812-13, 1815 and 1817; Iwatoya Kisaburō in 1812, 1818 and 1824; Ezakiya Kichibei in 1812 and 1826; Tsumura in 1813; Nishimura Shinroku in 1813 and 1822; Moriya Jihei in 1813, 1815 and 1822; Iwatoya Kihei in 1813; Yamamoto Heikichi in 1822 and 1825.
